Sapphire Dreams
by Empress Celestia
Summary: The daughter of Mizuno Ami finds herself in the midst of a new age - she has been discovered as Neo Sailor Mercury, and her life is about to change...


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PSafaia stared at her end-of-year report card. She let out an angry shriek and threw the peice of paper onto the table, her hand making a thick 'schlap'. Blue eyes in a sparkling frenzy, she grabbed a Dr Pepper and left the kitchen, walking outside to sit on her long porch. Crawling into her porch swing that her father had built the month before, she sat with her knees pulled up slightly, her back against one of the armrests.  
p"Two points. She passed me on the six weeks, but that failed me the semester by two points. Now I gotta take that damn exam." She muttered, and brushed a strand of dark brown hair from her crystalline ocean blue eyes. They weren't the normal sky blue, but a bit darker, a rich, cerluean color. Her mother had passed down the eyes, but her father had dark brown hair. Safaia thought her parents were pretty cool-they weren't super strict but they cared for her.  
p"Safaia Issui? Where are you?" A familiar voice called, and Safaia rolled her eyes slightly. Her mother. She was often busy at the Crystal Palace, as one of the advisors Neo Queen Serenity. Sometimes she came home late and left early for meetings, but she spent every spare moment with her family. Safaia knew not what she did there, nor did her father.  
P"Out here momma!" Safaia hollered back, and her mother, with her short blue hair, poked her head out the window beside Safaia and smiled slightly.  
P"What would you like for dinner, Safaia?" she inquired, and Safaia shrugged. "Pizza sounds good." She said after a few moments of thought, and then slipped on her flip flops as her mother nodded, leaving the window and heading for the kitchen. The usual "tap-tap-tap-tap" of her house slippers echoed and grew quieter as she walked away.  
pHopping off the porch, Safaia took advantage of the Saturday afternoon to walk down the street, slip onto the bus, and go a few streets downtown to the nearest park. She could play basketball, and maybe Arashi would be there. Her best friend, he was the person she came to when she had problems. He went to her too, and they had been friends since Kindergarten. Now they were both juniors at La Grange High School in Crystal Tokyo, and both on the yearbook staff.  
PStepping off the bus and walking into the shaded park area, she heard the familiar "thunk thunk thunk" of the basketball. A small rabbit snuck across the path, darting into the bushes. Giggling quietly and sticking her hands in her blue pullover-hoodie, she walked in her bead flip flops and khaki cargo shorts to the basketball court, smiling and waving to Arashi. He held the ball under his arm and waved back, walking over to her. Black wind pants, white Nikes, black t-shirt tucked into his pants. Black hair cut short and gelled, so it was crunchy to the touch and slightly spiked forward. A silver bead chain was around his neck, and he smiled, his tan face showing the weeks of summer basketball.  
p"Hey Safaia, what's up?" He asked, and tossed her the ball. She caught it and bounced it a few times, picking it up and tossing it back.  
p"Not much, just dropping by for a hello. There was nothing to do at the house." She replied simply, and he nodded, pursing his lips and shrugging.   
p"Not much to do here either, except basketball." He said, and then sighed.   
p"I was just about to head home, my momma's cooking tonight." He said with a smile, and Safaia laughed. It was a rare time that Arashi's mother cooked, and he always wanted to be there to eat it.  
p"Ok. Well, I'll see you later then." Safaia replied, smiling, and waved before walking in a separate direction from her friend.   
pThe afternoon sun was dropping behind the tall buildings of downtown Crystal Tokyo, and Safaia walked down the shaded sidewalk alongside the road, where a few cars passed every few moments. A regular street. With a squeal of tires and a few honking horns, a blue and grey smart car skewed over the curb and smashed head-on into a large delivery truck. Safaia jumped and gasped, frozen on the spot. It had happened so close to her, but now the two vehicles were a good 100 yards away. She didn't know what to think, what to do. She knew the people in there were hurt. Shocked, she felt her forehead grow slightly warm, but paid no attention to it. Her attention drew down to a small grey cat that was staring up at her, a white crescent moon on it's forehead. p"That cat looks familiar...like Neo Queen Serenity's kitty..." Safaia mused aloud, and then the cat motioned her over under the trees, behind one of them. Totally shocked, Safaia bent down and peered at the cat.  
p"Yes, I iam/i Neo Queen Serenity's cat, Luna!" She hissed, a perplexed look on her face. Safaia's jaw dropped, and she blinked in pure surprise. "And right now, I am just as shocked as you are! iYou/i are Neo Senshi Mercury!" Luna cried out, and Safaia nearly fainted. This was too much. She swayed a little bit, and then sat down on the ground, her forehead furrowed. Her blue eyes were filled with confusion, and Luna saw it.  
P"There's a symbol on your forehead. The sign of Mercury. I never thought the day would come, but it's true. There iis/i a new line of senshi." Luna said, almost sad. Sighing, the small cat began walking away, shaking her head.  
p"Come with me, we will see what Serenity says about this." Luna said quietly, and Safaia had no choice but to follow the small grey cat to the heart of Crystal Tokyo- the Crystal Palace. Luna bypassed the guards with the girl, and Safaia blinked, looking around the inside foyer. It widened to a dazzling white and gold staircase, random people hurrying up and down it. Standing beside the grey cat, Safaia saw a woman in a long white dress and gold crown atop her head, looking over a smooth white peice of paper. She looked about thirty-five years old. Safaia stood in the center of the foyer while Luna walked over to her.  
p"Serenity, please, a word?" Luna said quickly, her gaze serious. Serenity nodded, her brow furrowing. Usually Luna wasn't this formal...  
P"The girl behind me, I found her walking along the sidewalk when an accident happened. The sign of Mercury was upon her forehead, but without a henshin wand, I had no idea how to...well, you know what I mean." Luna said slowly, and both Serenity and Luna turned to look at Safaia. Feeling uncomfortable, she twiddled her thumbs behind her back, sighing slowly.  
PSerenity walked over to Safaia, a surprised look upon her face. She also smiled, an old, but still pretty smile. Looking down at Luna, she sighed.  
P"She is the first of our new line of senshi." Serenity declared softly, and Luna finally realized it. If this was their new Sailor Mercury, then it was time for Princess Usagi to take her place as Queen.   
P"What is your name, young lady?" Serenity asked politely, looking at Safaia with a twin pair of blue eyes.   
p"Safaia. Issui Safaia." Safaia said, and Serenity blinked, confused.  
p"That makes you Lady Mercury's daughter..." Serenity said, shaking her head, and finally sighed. A smile reappeared, and Serenity looked to Luna.  
P"Luna, this means that it is Usagi's turn to fight." She said, referring to her young pink-haired daughter who was the same age as Safaia. "There will soon be a new Venus, a new Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and..Pluto-sama will pass on her title. After so many centuries..." Serenity said slowly, and turned around as a high-pitched voice rang out through the foyer.  
P"Serenity!" A small grey kitty ran through the side corridor, a young girl around Safaia's age following her. Safaia didnt' recognize her, but she was wearing black pants, dress shoes, and a sleeveless red top. Her long black hair swung behind her, and she stopped beside the grey kitty that had come up breathless.  
p"Serenity, Serenity.." The cat breathed, and looked up, catching her breath.  
p"Diana? Are you alright? Who is this?" She said quietly, looking down at the small grey cat.  
P"She had the sign of Mars, Serenity. Mars!" Diana breathed out in one sentence. Serenity looked up quickly at the young girl, blinking at how much she looked like Lady Mars.  
P"Young lady, does your mother work here?" Serenity inquired, and the young girl shook her head. Serenity was perplexed beyond belief now.   
P"Then there's no pattern so far. Luna. I need you to do something." Serenity said seriously, and looked at the cat. "I need you to get the henshin wands for..for Mercury, and Mars." She said, and looked up at the two girls.  
p"Yes Serenity." Luna said, almost in a whisper, and the raven-haired girl stepped over to Safaia.  
p"I'm Akai. Sukai Akai. Who are you?" She whispered, and Safaia saw a pair of scared ruby eyes.  
P"I'm Safaia. Luna found me supposedly with the sign of Mercury on my forehead. Crazy, no?" Safaia hissed, and Akai nodded. "Diana found me with Mars!" She said, trying to keep from laughing. The two girls still couldn't believe what was happening.  
P"What if it's true, though?" Safaia said, and Akai dropped her happy smile to look at Safaia with a slightly scared look.  
p"I don't know..I don't know." Akai said softly, and both of them looked at Luna, who had done her phase to bring forth two henshin sticks. About five inches in length, one was blue with the symbol of Mercury and the other was Red, with the symbol of Mars. Serenity took the two sticks in her long, slender hand and handed the red one to Akai, and the blue to Safaia.  
p"We will see if it is true, if you two are the first of the new senshi." Serenity said, looking with fairly young but wise eyes from Safaia to Akai. She took a breath and looked to Safaia, Luna and Diana on either side of Serenity.  
p"Safaia, I want you to hold up your henshin wand and say, 'Mercury Power!'" She said, and then looked to Akai, tilting her head. "Do the same, and say 'Mars Power!'"   
PStepping back a bit, Neo Queen Serenity watched the two girls, to see if it was true-if these two girls were really the beginning of the new age of the Crystal Millenium./html 


End file.
